A Sustainable Living Home and Art Studio

America Recycles Day! Celebrate and Learn

If you have been following this blog for a while, you have probably heard from us about the importance of recycling, reusing and reducing. I’ll say it again – it is one of the easiest things you can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle. But we know from experience that sometimes you still ask the question, “but where does this go?” (referencing your trash of course).

Well today, November 15th, is America Recycles Day and our good friends at Nature Bridge, who are dedicated to “connecting youth to the Natural World” have chosen today as the special day to launch their new website dedicated to helping all of us be better about how we manage our waste streams. After just a few minutes of using it, we have given My Garbology a “must bookmark” rating. Here is what we really love about the site after only one day of using it.

The Top 10 Reasons why we (Heart) My Garbology:

Trash Talk – How fun to devote Tuesdays of every week to Trash Talk Tuesday! This blog link off of My Garbology let’s youhelp with solutions and learn lots.

Composting with the FBI - No not that FBI but Fungi, Bacteria and Invertebrates! No it is not gross- it is the way to make great soil for your garden and you can learn all about it here.

Resource for teachers- it may “take a village” to bring up kids these days, but let’s face it – teachers do a lot of the heavy lifting. This site gives them the fun activities to bring this knowledge to their students.

Conduct a Waste Assessment – Where are your areas of opportunity? Learn more here!‘

The Music – Okay, this is just fun and you can’t help but dance a bit in your seat. Not a boring site at all!

Play!- you actually get to “play” with your waste and figure out where it should go. Guess wrong, and the waste bins blow it back at you. Guess right and learn all about the positive impact your decision has made.

The Bins – no siting back and watching a bunch of boring, flat pictures on this site. Get engaged with the waste bins that help you learn where the waste should go. Our favorite is “Reuse” but only because he plays with a Yo-Yo when he gets bored.

The Challenges – once you learn, you are asked to take a challenge and make a change. It is a real easy-to-understand call to action!

The Social Media links – If you LIKE MyGarbology, tell your friends with an easy click of the Share buttons (now accepting email, Facebook and Twitter fans).

The Pledge – are you a My Garbology believer? Take the pledge and commit to reducing your waste.

So why should you care (in case you are still wondering)? Here is what Natures Bridge shared with us:

Did you know?

The average American throws away 1,600 pounds of trash each year. That’s 4.4 pounds every day!

Americans make enough plastic every year to shrink-wrap Texas.

600 plastic bags are thrown away every second in California

Each year, more than 1 million sea birds and 100 thousand marine mammals die from plastic materials like bags from the grocery store.

It takes 18 years for one corn cob to decompose in a landfill, but only a couple of months in a compost pile! When food is composted, it breaks down much faster and recycles itself into new life instead of sitting trapped in the landfill for many, many years.

So what are the “3 Ways to Be Green on America Recycles Day”?

Create Recycle Cops in your Home.

Post a recycling diagram on your refrigerator so your entire family knows what belongs in the recycling bin, the trash and the compost bin, and assign the job of “Recycle Cop” to your kids. They can make sure that all paper products (like old homework!), glass, hard plastics, cans, even plastic toys make it in the bin.

Limit Plastic Use! A lot of plastic does not get properly disposed and becomes a hazard to animals and nature. Reduce your plastic use by drinking tap water from reusable bottles made from glass or steel rather than plastic bottles. Use cloth bags at the store instead of plastic bags.

Compost! Create a compost pile in your backyard, or get a green bin from your local garbage man if you don’t have one already. The backyard compost pile is a great activity for the whole family – once it turns to soil, they can help plant a garden.

So enjoy getting your groove and learning on with this great new site! We would love to hear your thoughts on what you think. Reply with a comment or two below.